THE number of Victorian primary school children learning to speak Chinese has surged almost 80 per cent in just two years as Asian languages gain a tighter grip in the classroom.
The news comes as schools prepare for the introduction of compulsory foreign language education, starting with prep next year.
Traditional European languages fell from favour in the most recent figures.
The Education Department findings — conducted last August — reveal 29,760 government primary school pupils learned Mandarin last year, up 77.7 per cent on 2011.
It’s now the fourth-most popular language, overtaking French; Japanese enrolments surged 8.4 per cent, retaining second spot, and Indonesian held third.
The
“It’s going to absolutely be part of
Six-year-old pupil Shyla can already say hello and recite numbers in Chinese.
“We recognised that being one of our largest and closest neighbours, it’s one of those must-have languages,” principal Scott Mullen said.
“Our parents are really thrilled to have a focus on a modern language and a language that they see is important for their child’s future.”
Education Minister Martin Dixon said the government was on track to achieve a 2025 goal of providing languages education in all state schools from Prep to Year 10.
Initiatives included scholarships to produce qualified language teachers and help for rural schools to share teachers and teleconference.
“Significant progress has been made to give Victorian children and young people greater opportunities to learn a language,’’ he said.
The number of government primary schools offering languages increased 11.2 per cent in the 12 months to last year.
Chinese, French, Indonesian and Italian were recently added to the national curriculum, which for each suggests 350 hours of learning across a child’s primary education.
[Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/]